338 Miscellaneous. 



During this time the male, remaining at her side, leans and rubs 

 himself gently against her ; then, all at once, he himself turns over 

 towards the ceiling of the nest, his tail waves with a regular motion, 

 and finally a tremor accompanied by a slight forward movement 

 agitates his whole body. This is recognizable as the genital 

 spasm. 



On the conclusion of the spawning, the female abandons the nest 

 while the male remains as the assiduous guardian of it. He keeps 

 his pectoral fins and tail continually in motion to ensure the con- 

 stant renewal of the water. He furiously pursues the other fish 

 which pass too near him ; if one of them, even much larger than 

 himself, happens to penetrate into his nest, he bites and worries it 

 until it takes to flight. 



Blennius Montagui is extremely careful as to the cleanliness of 

 his abode ; he carries away to a distance all foreign bodies which 

 enter it, driven by the currents, x^othing is so curious as to see 

 him seize with his mouth large fragments of shells, and carry them 

 to the furthest possible distance from his nest. It is impossible to 

 succeed in tiring out his patience ; he casts outside his dwelling all 

 foreign bodies introduced by the observer. 



The females spawn several times during the same season, and the 

 same male fertilizes the ova of several difiex'ent females. The male 

 guards his progeny only so long as the incubation of the ova lasts ; 

 the embryos on hatching are left to themselves and live in the open 

 water. — Coinptes liendus, t. cxvii. no. 5 (July 31, 1893), pp. 289- 

 291. 



A Synopsis of the European Newts. 

 By Dr. J. von BECpaAOA, of Nice. 



Since the publication of my detailed treatise upon the Urodele 

 Amphibia of Europe will still take some time, I venture to bring 

 forward at once a systematic arrangement of our species of Molge. 

 In so doing it is my intention to lay stress chiefly upon permanent 

 differences, and I shall endeavour to disregard secondary sexual 

 characters. 



Several years ago Leydig and later Boulenger alluded to constant 

 specific characters in the case of certain Urodela. Nevertheless 

 batrachologists do not yet seem to have succeeded in discovering in 

 the case of all our species of newts characters which are at all times 

 recognizable and common to both sexes, since in all analytical tables 

 we are invariably confronted with the time-honoured enumeration 

 of secondary sexual characters, as well as of sexual peculiarities 

 which are subject to periodical changes. Moreover, owing to the 

 fact that features belonging to the last-mentioned category occur 

 more especially in the male sex, we acquire in the majority of cases 

 no conception of the specific type, but rather obtain a complex of 

 characters which merely serves for the definite determination of the 

 male individuals. The characteristics upon which an empirical 

 distinction of the females was based had, as is well known, in many 

 cases to be sought in the coloration, size, and shape of the entire 



